A Game of Death
by Sorrowful Reaper
Summary: I was selfish. I wanted to beat the game by myself and for myself. I didn't even consider the other players. To me, they were nothing more than stumbling blocks set in my path.
1. Chapter 1

Quick little author note, **this is going to be a self-insertion type fanfic.** If that's not your style, then you should close this tab right now. Going to follow the anime a bit more than the light novel in parts. This will go through both Alfheim and SOA. Anyways, hopefully you will enjoy the ride.

If you see a (1) or some other such number in parenthesis. It is a foot note that can be read after reading the story for clarification on that part.

I do not own Sword Art Online or any of its creations.

* * *

I looked out into the plaza and couldn't help the excitement bubbling within my chest. I was back again. I had been a beta tester for Swords Art Online, one of the extremely few to use it in America. I didn't focus on beating the game, but I experimented with every aspect that I could within the first 3 floors. I knew exactly how I was going to build myself and I couldn't wait to get started.

I started running through the town of beginnings, picking up the basic skills that I would need and looking for the greatsword stall to purchase the lowest grade possible. It would cost all my armor and my beginning sword, but I found this to be the fastest route. The beginning greatsword had quite a good amount of attack power and a decent reach which would allow me to farm the beginning mobs without any difficulty (even if I had no defense in the slightest). Also, it would start to level up my Greatsword Mastery, so it was a win-win situation. Finally finding the stall, I took off my armor and sword, giving them to the vendor. This left me in a pair of boxers, which was about half a defense give or take. Sure, this was slightly embarrassing, but I had swum in speedos covering much less than this so I would get over it.

The vendor smiled and handed over the weapon, completely unfazed by my lack of clothing. The greatsword was roughly five feet tall and the blade was easily a foot wide. It was a massive sword to say the least. Taking a closer look, I could see some wear and tear all along the edge. _You get what you pay for _I told myself. Thanking the npc, I finally went out into the field to start my adventure.

With a yell, I managed to bring down another boar before my greatsword broke apart. It had been about four hours and I had managed to kill 80 boars and 16 wolves. The early quests were good for either specific items or skills, but the majority of leveling was easily gained from hunting the monsters than it was from quests. I knew how hellish opening day was for the lower level areas, so I made it my primary concern to power level myself in order to quest a few towns over. Looking in my inventory, I had gained a good amount of spoils. A few health pots, a ton of trash material, a few pieces of armor (most of which I had already equipped, thankful to not be mostly naked anymore), and about 3120 col.

Looking at the setting sun in Aincrad's sky, I started to feel the exhaustion permeating throughout my entire body. I hadn't expected to push myself this hard, but once I got into it I just couldn't stop. I sat on the ground and stared out at this world. Everything looked real, from the forest surrounding me to the roar of the river just around the bend. It even smelled real. I felt the wind gently blowing over my body, cooling my overheated body. _How can this be a virtual world? _I thought to myself.

Closing my eyes, I felt my consciousness drifting away. Before I could even fall asleep, a massive bell rang in the distance, instantly chasing away my weariness. Checking my clock, it showed that it was about 5:25 p.m. game time, which means it was 1:25 a.m. for me back in California. _I'll log off in a bit_ I thought to myself. With the final toll of the bell, I was surrounded by a bright light. When the light faded, I saw that I was in the beginning square and that it was completely filled with other players. Confused, I almost asked what had happened when the sky turned blood red. Transfixed, I watched as the sky seemed to start bleeding, collecting in a massive pool suspended in the air. Electricity started arcing across its surface before it finally resembled a massive human, clothed in a majestic robe and a cowl that shadowed his face. It was a GM. I recognized its clothing from the beta, but, it lacked any of the usual GMs' faces.

He started speaking in Japanese, losing me for a second before the auto translation could create some subtitles for me. "Attention, players. Welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world." I had read about him and he was honestly my idol from a computer science and engineering stand point. My dream had always been to create a virtual reality game where the sense and motion input of the body could be interpreted and used to make a second body, a virtual body. "I'm sure you have already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu." Woops. I hadn't even thought to log out yet. Slightly embarrassed, I quickly called up the menu and saw that the log out button was, indeed, not there._  
_

"But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect in the game." I felt my blood suddenly run cold. Something was wrong. "It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves and no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life." Was he holding us hostage? I saw people around me doubting his words, but I couldn't even become skeptical. Everything he said so far held enough weight to be taken seriously. Unconsciously, I tried to grip my sword's handle before realizing I still needed to replace it. "To be a little more specific, disconnection from an outside source of electricity for ten minutes, being cut off from the system for more than two hours, or any attempt to: unlock, dismantle, or destroy the Nerve Gear. If any of these conditions are met, the brain destruction sequence will start. These conditions have been made known to the government and the public through mass-media in the outside world."

"Unfortunately, several players' families and friends have ignored this warning and attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, 213 players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world." I stared up at him in horror. Here was a person that I respected for making such an advance in technology, just ruining everything he ever worked for, for **what!?** "As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths." One of the clips actually showed my house, but it didn't look like my parents had been interviewed yet. My heart clenched at the thought of what they had to be going through. The only reason I didn't lash out was because I knew how futile it was. They are called game masters for a reason.

"Thus, you can assume the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. But I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your hp drops to zero, your avatar will forever be lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain." By this point, I was beyond being surprised and just nodded. "There is only one means of escape." My head shot up, here it comes. "To complete the game." I lost what little composure I had left. It took us two fucking months to finish only six floors in the beta. It could take years to get to floor 100. "You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on Floor 100 and you will clear the game."

"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see yourselves" By the time I got the message, I was once again surrounded in light. Once it ended, I was still in my original spot. I quickly opened my inventory and found the "Mirror" item. I called it out and looked into it. _It….it looks like me _I thought to myself in wonder. I actually looked how I did in the real world. Light brown eyes, quite a bit of scruff covering my chin, bushy eyebrows, short dark brown hair, and a button nose. I looked over the rest of my body and noticed it had changed as well. I had tried to make my avatar as close to my body type as possible before so it only changed a small amount of my physique. I was a bit taller, around 6'1 now, and my body had filled out a bit more. Over all, it wasn't much of a drastic change. _Maybe he thought we should look like ourselves since this is going to be our home for now _I thought to myself, looking at Kayaba once more.

"Right now, you're probably wondering, "why?" Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all this? My goal has already been achieved. To create and watch this world is the only reason I have created the Nerve Gear and SAO. And now, everything has been realized." I guess, in a way, my earlier assumption that we were hostages was correct. "This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art online launch. Good luck, players." His avatar faded into a purplish mist which went back into the sky. The sky quickly snapped back to its beautiful state once he completely disappeared.

Everyone stood still, completely at a loss for what to say. Then, all hell broke loose. People screaming, crying, yelling. It was absolute pandemonium. The invisible wall surrounding the area faded and I made my escape. I ran straight for the Greatsword vendor and bought the next tier for my weapon and sold all the scrap mats that I had. The sword looked much like the first, but it was in way better condition. Strapping the sword across my back, I ran straight towards the third town. What was a normal opening day rush wouldn't even be able to compare what was about to happen. This was going to be a survival of the fittest in the opening area. I wouldn't have been surprised if people actually killed each other over spawns given how slow they were to replenish.

A pack of wolves started to converge on me, interrupting my thoughts. _If I die here, I will really die _I thought to myself, a bit shaken. Steeling myself, I let loose a roar and jumped into the fight. I would not allow fear to rule me. Calling forth my sword skill, sonic strike, I spun in a tight circle, doing a decent amount of damage to each wolf and knocking them back. I re-engaged the closest wolf, instantly killing him with a simple blow. Leaving 5 more wolves left to go. I started to run towards the third town again, this time fighting while I was running. I had to make the best use of my time and, at the moment, that meant getting to the town as quick as possible.

Later on, I would realize how stupid this strategy was since wolves had a tendency to call for help and constantly moving would allow for more wolves to follow me. I knew I should stop and eliminate them all, but I came to that realization a tad late. I had killed about fifteen so far, leaving thirty still chasing me down; if I let them corner me, I knew I would die. Looking forward again, I apparently had paid too much attention to the fight and had been corralled into a nice little cove, cliffs surrounding me from all sides. If I survived, I would have to remember to kill whoever created the AI for these wolves. Looking back at the wolves, I could tell that they knew it was over. _I'm an idiot _I thought to myself. I should have just fought the small pack and every mob along the way so it didn't end like this. I readied myself for a last stand and roared at them, "Well!? COME GET ME!" As the wolves started to rush, a piercing howl stopped them all in their tracks.

With a slight hesitation, they all backed up and left enough room for one wolf to slip in. It was a monster of a wolf, easily 4 feet tall at its shoulder and must have weighed more than I could possibly imagine. "The Black Wolf" was its name. A named mob on top of the pack of other wolves, someone must really hate me. The Black Wolf slowly approached me, watching intently as I stared him down. He didn't make any move against me and I stood there ready for a fight. After a minute of nothing happening, I started wondering. What if I could tame this guy? The chances of a named mob actually being tame-able were close to .001% so it might have been just waiting for me to make the first move before it started to fight. Still, I stood no chance of winning this confrontation, so I decided it was worth a shot.

The only problem was that I had no food at all to give him. Thinking back to beta, I believed that I might have an idea what its favorite food was. Taking a quick drink of one of my bitter hp potions, I walked up to the wolf and presented my left arm (1). With a deft strike, it ripped my arm off and began to consume it, taking away all but a tenth of my health. _Alright, I definitely could not have fought that wolf _I thought to myself as the pain from the attack caused me to collapse to my knees. I had to be thankful that it didn't feel like it would in the real world (2).

With one last bite, it had finished its meal and looked at me with what I dare say was approval in its eyes. The Black Wolf walked over, giving a small lick to my shoulder as if to say "sorry about that" or he could have asked for seconds. I seriously hoped that it was the former. Hesitantly, I ran my fingers through his unexpectedly soft fur. After a few moments, I had a screen pop up. "What is your pet's name?" There could only be one name for my new companion. With a quick confirmation, The Black Wolf was erased and replaced by "Fenrir". Feeling too tired to move, I looked at Fenrir who was sitting next to me, growling when any wolf got to close. "Could you protect me for a little while? I just….need a bit of rest." I told my new companion. I could have sworn I saw him nod before howling at the wolves. The wolves started to scramble about with ten stationed around the entrance to this dead-end while the rest ran into the woods. _Glad to have made friends with the boss _I thought before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Character Details

Level 5

Equipment:

...Iron Greatsword (Greatsword – vendor)

...A simple leather armor set

Skill slots: 3

...Greatsword – 53

...Sprint – 42

...Acrobatics – 25

Greatsword skills:

...Sundering blow

...Sonic Strike

Beast Details:

...Fenrir – level 10 Elite Mob

* * *

Footnotes (taken from the character's point of view):

1. There were numerous complaints on the forums about how wolves always seemed to go out of their way to hunt for players. Maybe, this was a hint about what they liked to eat. A bit morbid, but it seemed like my best shot.

2. Pain in SOA is registered within certain parameters that you can manually set. Instead of actually feeling my arm ripped off, it was more like my finger being broken, a safety feature in order to prevent shock from extremely damaging moves in-game. You could potentially turn off all pain, but it was easier to tell what attacks were coming from where with a bit of pain.

* * *

Closing thoughts: If you see any little errors, don't be afraid to point them out. My next chapter should be up within the next two weeks. I have a few exams to study for so the window is a bit larger than I would like. Anyways, hopefully I will see you all later.


	2. Chapter 2

Here is the second chapter! Sorry for taking so long, college plus a horrible case of writers block prevented me from doing much.

Couple of house keeping things I want to mention. First, I changed the description to fit the story better. Second, if you want, you can vote in a poll on my profile page. I'm just curious to see which of the sword art online girls you liked most. Third, if you have any critiques on what I can improve, don't be afraid to give me a quick review on it :).

I do not own Sword Art Online.

* * *

A massive explosion woke me up and caused Fenrir to give a low snarl. A quick check on my clock stated that it was only about 8 at night. Apparently, day one hadn't ended for me yet. "Should we go take a look?" I asked. Fenrir lazily stretched before getting up. _Guess that means yes. _Groaning, I attempted to push my body up, only to fall face first into the ground. Muttering a small curse, I found my left arm still hadn't reformed.

_That's definitely going to be problematic _I thought to myself. I couldn't use my greatsword with just one hand. Looking at Fenrir for a moment, I came to a decision. "You are going to have to protect me on this little jaunt." I told him. He acknowledged me with a quick bow of his head before swiftly jumping behind me. "What are …" I started to ask when he bit into the back of my armor and lifted me to my feet. Someone was eager to get going.

"Lead the way; I have no idea where that explosion happened." Without looking back, Fenrir started walking out of the cove and back into the forest, the wolves guarding the entrance disappearing into the surrounding woods. As we walked through the forest, I couldn't help but realize how close I had been to dying. Then, the shock set in. I had almost died. I wouldn't have seen my family again, gotten married, finished college, and so many other things. I collapsed to my knees, clutching my armless shoulder and feeling as if I was going to puke at any moment.

A wet, rough tongue licked the side of my face, bringing me back to reality. Well, as close to reality as you could get now. I gave Fenrir a quick, one armed hug in thanks before standing up on unsteady legs. "Sorry, it won't happen again. Let's continue." I told him. I had to keep going forward if I was ever going to get home. He didn't give any sign of understanding, but he started to walk once more.

It took us only a few minutes before we reached the supposed area. I stopped for a moment while Fenrir wandered off a bit farther. I couldn't see anyone nearby, but I did recognize this place. It was the general area where the majority of Nepents (1) POP-ed. I considered them a waste of time unless you were hunting them for that Anneal Sword quest. But, who could have actually started that quest so fast? It wasn't that the Nepents were hard to kill, but rather, that they could easily overwhelm a person with sheer numbers.

Fenrir walked back a few moments later and presented me with a slightly corroded shield and sword. _Whoever tried to start this quest didn't survive _I thought to myself sadly. Opening my map, I found that I was about halfway between Horunka and Tolbana. With the addition of Fenrir to my party, I could definitely handle the higher level mobs in such a distant town. Also, this would allow me at least a week of solo leveling before anyone could even think about getting anywhere near there. With one last look around, I set off towards Tolbana.

-time skip of two weeks-

During these past two weeks, I had started to grow accustomed to how Fenrir fought. And, surprisingly, he actually started to learn how to compliment my style as well. While he rushed in and drew the monsters attention, I would come in from behind with swift and precise strikes, quickly dealing with any monster that was beyond my capacity. That was what it was like within the first few days.

After gaining a few more levels, it was more like a competition between us. We would go absolutely berserk, fighting multiple monsters at a time in order to expedite the time it took. Then, if we faced any monsters above both our levels, we took turns with the agro, juggling it between each other and slowly whittling down the enemy monster safely. This only happened twice during the two weeks, but it was good to know how we would handle situations like that. The best part of this arrangement was that each of our kills would register as if we got it solo. Within these two weeks, I had killed more monsters than most people would be able to kill within four weeks. It also helped that I held no regard for food or water, only taking the occasional nap.

Fenrir, on the other hand, I made sure to take good care of. After showing any signs of fatigue, I would order him to rest. I didn't have to feed him much since the monsters were a typical part of his diet. As for water, he would usually direct us towards a stream of some kind whenever he started to feel thirst. It was funny, I cared more about this monster turned pet's comfort than my own. _Well, he is the only thing keeping me sane at the moment _I thought to myself as I watched him tear the throat out of another Kobold.

The emptiness in my stomach was punctuated by an extremely sharp pain, waking me from my thoughts and causing me to actually stop mid attack on a Ruin Kobold Trooper. Fenrir instantly started sprinting towards my opponent. He intercepted the monster's attack with his paw and countered with a vicious bite, causing the monster to disintegrate. I nodded my thanks. I guess it was actually deadly not to eat after a while. "Well, how would you like to go back to town?" I asked him. Fenrir didn't respond, but he started to trot at a steady pace towards the exit. Following his lead, I started to run back as well.

It didn't take us long before we finally reached Tolbana again. It definitely had quite a bit more activity then when I first arrived. Players walked in and out of the inn, some bartering took place in the street, and so on. I actually started to miss the relative peace that the empty town had.

Shaking my head slightly, I walked towards the nearest vendor and started selling my goods. By the time I had finished, I had accumulated about 85000 col with my stingy attitude. Using 15k of my col, I bought a couple more Steel Greatswords and repaired my current armor and weapon. My armor was actually on the upper end of leather equipment you could get on this floor. It appeared as a pair of jeans, a grey shirt, a pair of grey gloves, and a darker grey jacket. A bit boring some would say, but it did its job well. Thanking the shop keeper, I went to the inn and ordered a small meal for 25 col.

The quick bite alleviated the empty feeling within my stomach and the water had definitely helped my dry mouth. _Maybe, I should do this more often._ Fenrir, who was sitting by the table, turned around and gave a low growl to a girl approaching us. She looked absolutely unfazed, which was quite unexpected given Fenrir's size.

"How may I help you?" I asked her, pretty sure that I was about to get a confused look before she walked away. After all, not many people would have invested in a translation system for their NerveGear. I was definitely surprised when she responded in English as well. "Is that any way to treat a friend, Harbinger?" She asked. I nearly jumped in surprise. I hadn't shared my name with anyone; the only people that could possibly know my name were from the beta and even then, only a handful would be able to recognize me given my change in appearance.

Turning towards her, I saw that her face had one big distinct feature. On both cheeks were three animal like whiskers drawn on with a make-up item. There was only one person who had those whiskers. "Argo?" I asked hesitantly. She nodded her head with a smile, curly auburn hair bouncing with the motion. I couldn't help the smile that grew on my face. We ran into each other multiple times during the beta, mainly because we both researched the tower floors. Though, I'm sure she had gone a few floors higher than I did.

I made a motion with my hand, offering her a seat across from me. She started talking the second she sat down. "You really did make your avatar pretty close to your real looks." I self-consciously rubbed my neck. "I didn't want to go into Sword Art Online as someone else." I said. She nodded in understanding and fell silent, possibly waiting for me to ask the first question.

"Alright, I'll go first. How many people have died so far?" I asked her. She didn't even think about it. "About One thousand and four hundred have died so far." I couldn't help the shock that appeared on my face. _That many? This fast? _"How many beta players have died?" She smirked a little before responding. "You are the second person to ask me that. I know of about three hundred beta players that have died. As for how many are left, I honestly don't know." I could hear the irritation in her voice at not knowing something.

I rubbed my nose as I digested the information. There was no doubt that the players in the beta would buy the game. Hell, I would have taken out a loan to get the game if I had to. And as for Argo missing something, it was pretty unlikely. It was more than likely that seven hundred beta testers were still alive. That meant that nearly 30% of the beta testers had already died. People that should have known better.

Releasing a sigh, I looked at Argo and gave her a sad smile. "It's good to see you are alright. So, what do you want in exchange for this info?" I asked. Argo never gave information away for free. There was always a catch. She chuckled. "You know me too well. I just want to know how far you have mapped the local dungeons." She knew. I have no idea how she found out about the completion of the mapping, but this was information that I wasn't going to let out to the public yet. No one was nearly high enough of a level to face the boss unless they had trained as I had. Alright, that's not exactly true. We possibly could do it now, but not without quite a few deaths guaranteed. "Ask for something else. This is information that I will not allow to be released for at least another two weeks."

"Look, I won't sell this information until you give me permission. And what if you die? All your hard work would go to waste and people could die trying to explore the way you have." I cringed at the grim response. I knew she was right. With a sigh, I navigated the menus and offered the information to her. With a practice hand, she accepted and the deed was done. "Thanks Harbinger, message me if you need any information or have any to offer." As she said this, a screen popped up asking if I would accept the friend request.

"You're a pain to deal with, but you are also a welcome one." I told her, accepting the friend request before standing up. Fenrir, who had been watching us silently since the conversation started, also stood up and followed behind me as we started to leave. "Where are you heading?" I heard Argo call after me. "To train." I stated simply, exiting the Inn.

-two week time skip-

It has been nearly a month since this game started. Another six hundred people had died in these two weeks, leaving the total death count at two thousand so far. I had gotten used to death in this world. _Maybe a bit too used to it_ I thought to myself bitterly. I rubbed the bridge of my nose. This game, no, this life was too much for me sometimes.

Fenrir gently nudged my side, bringing me out of my mind. Scratching behind his ear, I walked forward and stood at the top of an outdoor amphitheater. I had finally given Argo the go ahead and a group of people had already verified the location of the boss room. This was the meeting to start our ascent. It was a big step and I needed these people to work together in order to have a chance at winning.

"Okay, let's get started people!" A voice rang out. I looked down at the person who had called this meeting. He had blue hair (I couldn't help but wonder how he managed that), looked to be about 5'8 and seemed to radiate confidence. Maybe we would get through this without incident. "Thank you for coming today. My name is Diabel. I like to consider my "job" as knight." He thumped his chest proudly. My earlier optimism was crushed. If he wasn't serious, I was expecting at least a 20% casualty rate if not higher.

After the laughing subsided, he continued in a more serious manner. "Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower." I couldn't help a small snort at his claim. I instantly felt two pairs of eyes on me and saw a cloaked figure as well as a rather small swordsman looking at me. I gave a small nod in their direction and returned my attention to Diabel, hoping those two would do the same. I don't like attention, which was another reason I had let Argo have my mapping info so easily. It was simpler to just let other people get the lime light then it was to have to stand in it.

"-present here shares that duty! Do you all agree?" Diabel asked. I have no idea what he was talking about, but people were starting to applaud so I guess it was rather motivating. After the cheering died down, Diabel started to speak again. "Okay, then let us begin our planning. First, divide into parties of six." I watched as everyone got into their usual groups. I didn't want to get into one. It was easier to be by yourself. Then, you didn't have to worry about anything other than yourself and a wolf that could easily pass as a car. A hesitant voice spoke to my left in Japanese. I didn't even need the translator to know what he said. "Would you like to join our group?"

I stared at them both a moment. It was the swordsmen and cloaked figure. I was about to say no when an awful thought entered my mind. _What if they both die because you aren't there? _The voice whispered. I tried to shake the voice from my mind but it just kept coming back. Fenrir, as if sensing my discomfort, stood between me and the swordsmen, letting loose a low growl. As he backpedaled a bit, I silently petted Fenrir, letting him know it was okay. "Sure." I told him, reciting one of the few words of Japanese I knew. _Maybe I should ask Argo to teach me _I thought to myself. The only problem was that she would probably make me her personal slave or something equally ridiculous.

The boy offered me the party request and I accepted. The second time I had done so in this past month. Hopefully, it would go better this time. I looked at the names of my two party members and read them to myself. Kirito and Asuna. Looking at the two, I could tell that Kirito had to be the swordsmen. Asuna sounded a bit feminine for it to be him and the cloaked figure looked more suited to the name. Of course, I could be wrong. But, I decided not to press the issue at the moment. I nodded at the two and looked at Diabel as he started to speak again.

"Okay, have you formed your parties?" He looked out among the people for a second before nodding in approval. "Then…." He started to say before being interrupted by a shout. A guy with orange, spiked hair started running down the seats. Once he reached about four rows from the bottom, he made a leap and cleared the remaining rows. Without missing a beat, he started to talk. "My name is Kibaou. I wanna say something before we take on the boss. Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand that have died so far!" I narrowed my eyes at his statement. It was obvious who he was talking about. Us beta testers.

As he continued to talk, I couldn't help my anger rising. "I'm sure someone here was in the beta! They should get on their knees and apologize, and give up all the items and money they've hoarded." Alright, someone deserved a lesson. Before I could move, a deep, baritone voice spoke up from the audience.

"May I speak?" Looking towards the voice, a massive man stood up from the audience. He had to have been easily 6 and a half feet if not taller. His dark skin was a heavy contrast to the light stones that made up the area. When he reached the stage, he stood in front of Kibaou before talking. "My name is Egil. Kibaou-san, tell me if I have this right. You're saying that because the beta testers didn't take care of them, many beginners died. That they should take responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation. Correct?" I didn't like the conversation so far, but I was willing to let him have the benefit of the doubt. Kibaou muttered out a "yeah", a bit cowed before Egil's massive figure.

"You got this guide book, didn't you? It was provided for free at the item store." Egil pulled out a small brown book as he said this. I looked on in interest. I had seen that book before but never actually read it. Kibaou looked a bit uncomfortable when he responded. "Of course. Why?"

"It was compiled from information given by the beta testers." I couldn't help the smile that crept onto my face. _Ahh, so that's what was in that book_. I started to walk away from the meeting. I had gotten everything I needed already. It was pointless to continue to stay. As I walked through the town and into the forest, I realized something. _What time were we supposed to rendezvous? _

It would be too awkward to go back into town and look for someone to ask. Sighing, I looked at Fenrir who stared straight back at me. "Want to just sit in front of the door and wait?" Fenrir stared back with what could only be described as reluctance. I laughed a bit and headed for the tower.

It didn't take us long to reach the door, only facing mild resistance from the local mobs. Once there, I placed my hand on the door, feeling anticipation and …fear. I quelled the feeling as quickly as possible, but it still managed to linger. I sat on the ground, leaning against Fenrir who curled up behind me. There was no use worrying about the future now. Shutting my eyes, I fell asleep against my silent companion.

I woke up to Fenrir's steady growl. Opening my eyes a fraction of the way, I could see Diabel and the group had arrived at the door. Standing up and stretching, I nodded at them in greeting before making me way to the back where Kirito and Asuna were. Kirito quickly went over the general game plan; I nodded every few seconds to show him that I understood. Kirito and Asuna would work together in dispatching their Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Kirito would run in and knock their weapon up with a sword skill while Asuna would switch in and deliver the finishing blow. Fenrir and I would be doing the exact same thing, teaming up on the Ruin Kobold Sentinels in a 2v1. Diabel stabbed his sword into the ground directly in front of him, drawing my attention to the front.

"Listen up, everyone. I have only one thing to say. Let's win!" I could tell that the words had their intended effect. Where some people used to have doubt, they now had resolve in their eyes. Despite his faults, Diabel was definitely a good leader. "Let's go." As Diabel said this, he pushed open the door to the boss's room and went straight in.

Peering into the back of the dimly lit room, I could see a figure I had only seen once before. A massive shape sat on a throne, waiting for his challengers. Red eyes pierced the darkness and the room instantaneously lit up. Illfang the Kobold Lord jumped from his throne, covering half the distance between us in that one leap, axe and buckler in hand. With a roar of defiance, Illfang summoned three Kobold Sentinels before charging forward with his entourage. Diabel wasted no time and yelled for everyone to commence the attack. Eager for battle, the group surged forward and the battle against the first boss had officially started.

The first sentinel I engaged brought his pole arm down in a simple over handed strike that I countered with an upward swing. The weapons clashed together and the Sentinel was knocked into the air, flying backwards before breaking into small particles of light. I blinked in surprise. I didn't think that I had over leveled myself by this much. Fenrir was having about as easy of a time as I was and had taken out another on his own as well. If I remembered correctly, the Sentinels would continue to spawn every minute until Illfang had entered his frenzy.

Looking towards the main battle, I could see that Diabel was expertly handling the multiple groups, cycling them in and out as needed so that no one took more damage than necessary. I smiled a bit, looks like waiting an extra few weeks had turned out for the best. In less than a minute, Illfang had entered his last bar of health and threw away his axe and buckler, both landing with a heavy metallic clang. He reached behind his back and pulled out his final weapon. _Time to end this_ I thought to myself.

"Stand back! I'll handle this." Diabel ran forward as he said this, charging up a sword art skill that surrounded his sword in a brilliant white light as he raised his shield in front of him. It took me a moment to realize what he was doing. The bastard wanted to get the last hit. I felt a bit of anger welling up and almost ran forward myself to deny him but something was wrong. The weapon that Illfang pulled out didn't look like it did in the beta.

"No! Jump back as fast as you can!" Kirito yelled but it was already too late. Illfang jumped onto one of the pillars in the room and started ricocheting off of each of them with increasing speed before unleashing a powerful downward slash on Diabel, easily throwing him across the room. But Illfang was not done; he rushed with amazing speed behind Diabel's flying body and with one last slash, tossed him in the opposite direction. With Diabel taken care of, Illfang turned his attention towards the rest of the group.

I stood there, watching the carnage unfold with a bit of amazement. This boss had received a buff, that's for sure. Kirito had rushed over to Diabel but it was obvious he was not going to make it. I turned my attention to the Kobold lord himself and couldn't help it as a shudder of excitement passed through me. Maybe it was because I had grown tired of fighting the same weak mobs, but the fact that this boss was so strong just made me want to laugh. I rushed forward as the boss swung his massive sword towards a group of the players, still stunned that their leader had fallen so easily. My blade started to cast a dark red light before the system took over and smashed my blade against the Kobold Lord's. The impact of my Sundering Blow sent Illfang flying back but I left no chance for recovery as I sprinted forward with Fenrir following in my wake.

I thought I left no chance, but Illfang did a tight somersault through the air and landed feet first on the ground, skidding to a halt before bringing his sword in a deadly horizontal strike. I quickly stabbed my sword into the ground and braced myself against it. Illfang's weapon was stopped dead in its tracks. I pulled my sword out from the ground and started trading blows with Illfang. Each strike was blocked and countered, neither of us gaining any real advantage. With every passing moment, I could have sworn that my smile was growing wider. Fenrir, as if not wanting to ruin my fun, hung back, letting me fight it out by myself. Illfang gave a loud roar and brought down his sword with an even more powerful strike. I brought up my sword and braced it with both my hands to absorb the impact. Unfortunately, I didn't realize how low the durability had gotten.

The strike caused the durability on my greatsword to instantly hit 0, but nearly all of the force of the blow was taken away. So, as my sword disintegrated, Illfang's sword lightly impacted my body. Lightly is a relative term since I was sent flying into a nearby pillar. I quickly called out a spare sword and rushed back in while Fenrir took this as a go ahead for him to join in. Fenrir dodged out of the way of his attacks, slashing at Illfang whenever he was given an opening. Fenrir looked like he had the upper hand until Illfang body checked him, stunning him long enough for Illfang to get a solid blow onto him.

With Fenrir knocked down about half of his health, I quickly rushed to his side, using a potion to heal him up. Taking a hasty look at Illfang, I saw that Kirito and Asuna started their own assault on him. They were dealing with him the same way that they dealt with the sentinels. Kirito would knock his sword up and Asuna would rush in for a couple quick strikes. Illfang adapted to this strategy and managed to get under Kirito's guard, landing a slash across his midsection. The impact of the blow sent him colliding into Asuna and forcing them both onto the ground. As Illfang charged a downward strike, I rushed forward and could only watch as Illfang's sword made its descent onto Asuna's flimsy guard. At the last second, Egil managed to charge in and knock Illfang's sword up, sending him skidding backwards. I nearly sighed in relief as I saw more people harassing Illfang, giving Kirito and Asuna some time to recover.

This was short lived as Illfang easily knocked the group to the ground, jumping into the air for some added power to his finishing blow. Kirito managed to intercept him in midair, causing Illfang to fly harmlessly away from the fallen group. Kirito did a brief roll as he hit the ground to minimize the damage and started to charge forward once more with Asuna for the finishing blow. Maybe I was feeling a bit competitive, but I ran forward as well, matching their pace for this final assault on Illfang.

Illfang stared down at us with anger in his eyes. He tried another horizontal slash to only have his sword knocked out of the way by Kirito. Asuna immediately took advantage of this and landed a few solid strikes on him, causing him to lose his grip on his sword. I landed my own powerful blow, sending him flying backwards just in time for Kirito to land a slash that split his body in half, the light from the sword skill leaving a bright blue arc in the air behind Illfang. And with that, Illfang gave one last roar of defiance before bursting into an impressive ball of light.

Everyone was staring in silence for a moment before cheering erupted. We had beaten the first floor boss. As the celebration continued, I exited the party and looked at Fenrir who seemed to be in perfect shape now. "We have to work on our boss fighting skills." I told him. The only response I got was his ears flattening against his head. I chuckled a bit and started to head towards the spiral stair case that lead to the second floor. "Harbinger!" I turned to see Kirito catching up to me. "Good job, you handled yourself pretty well." I felt a bit of a smile work its way onto my face.

"And you as well." I stated back in some mangled form of Japanese. I really needed to get some lessons. With a quick nod of goodbye, I ran up the spiral staircase. One month and one floor was cleared, I was definitely going to be in this game for quite a while. As I made it to the massive stone doors, I heard some yelling. Something about beta testers. _Yup, definitely time to go._ I thought to myself. However, just as I was being transported to the second floor, I could have sword I heard Kirito laughing maniacally.

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Character Details

Level 15

Equipment:

...Steel Greatsword (Greatsword – vendor)

...Simple leather armor set

Skill slots: 4

...Greatsword – 126

...Sprint – 121

...Acrobatics – 104

…Leather Armor - 87

Greatsword skills:

...Sundering blow

...Sonic Strike

…Vertical Strike

…Horizontal Strike

Beast Details:

...Fenrir – level 16

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Footnotes

1. Annoying plant monsters that have a corrosive agent within their bodies that accelerates equipment degradation. Have no eyes, so relies on other means to "see" where players are.


End file.
